Don't be late
by Lanae's World
Summary: Peggy had known that Steve wouldn't survive Bucky's death.


Hello everybody

Today I tried something new : I translated my own work. I hope that the result isn't too bad and that you'll enjoy reading it.

A lot of love (and thanks) to **Nalou** and **Elizabeth** for their help and encouragements.

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Peggy was often asked about the true nature of her relationship with Captain America. She had always avoided the question, answering with half-truths and letting people imagine what they wanted.

That was true that her photograph inside Steve's compass had the people think much over it. Indeed it even had been in plain sight in one of his propaganda movies. And they had let everybody think that its presence was the sign of a romantic interest, at least from the soldier's side.

But it wasn't for this reason. Knowing Steve, seeing him interact with his best friend, was enough to realize that he was definitely and irrevocably in love with Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.

That day, when, when Steve came back with several hundred of soldiers in tow, it had only been a matter of minutes before she realized that the sentiments she started to feel for the man will never be reciprocated.

Her disappointment didn't last long, she had not been really in love with him. But she could have been under other circumstances. And she wasn't able to blame the two men. Their relationship was so special, full of tenderness and affection, that she decided very soon to do her best to protect it.

It was her who provided them with an excuse when they wished to spend a night together. It was her who silenced the rumors when people started to be curious. Ultimately, it was her who covered them the only time they were found in a potentially compromising situation.

She could never say that to the journalists, they would never have accepted that Captain America to be anything but heterosexual. And nobody ever questioned the fact that Steve had send the Valkyrie crashing at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean not even five days after Bucky's death.

But Peggy had known. She had heard the Howling Commandos coming back from that fateful mission in the Alps. Morita had told her by radio of Bucky's fall, but she had been away with her own assignment. When she had been able to locate Steve, he was trying to drown his sorrow in a bottle.

She had already met with the Commandos and they had explained in detail what had happened. They hadn't really understood why she was so troubled, but they didn't _know_.

When she left the pub where Steve was hiding, she was more worried than ever. Life had went out from the young man's beautiful eye. A key part of what made Steve had died when Bucky did and she feared that without it, there wouldn't be enough left in him to force the soldier to move forwards.

Her fears were proved right in the following days. Steve had shown indication of his recklessness in the past, but Bucky had always managed to curb that behavior. Except that the sergeant wasn't here anymore, and Captain America became more and more careless when tracking HYDRA and Schmidt.

She did her best to talk some sense back into him, but she didn't have Bucky's influence on him. And when, at last, they succeeded to corner Schmidt, she tried to give the soldier a reason to come back. She cared about him. She would never be the love of his life but they could be happy together. She tried to convey this message in the kiss she gave him, but it hadn't been enough.

As soon as Philips stopped the car, she got to their base, anxious and heavy chested. She waited to hear from Steve with increasing fear. She was afraid for him, and for the thousand of people who were going to die if he failed to stop Schmidt.

When their radio came alive and Steve's voice reached them, she took Morita's seat. As soon as she understood that Steve would never come back, that he found a pretext to follow his boyfriend in death, she couldn't stop her tears. She thought, and maybe she was slightly mean, that Steve had chosen the easiest way, letting the people who loved him alone and distraught.

As she reminded him no to be late for their date and that his usual excuse came up - he couldn't dance - she thought about the sadness of seeing him choosing to stop living.


End file.
